Tatiana folded her arms and leaned on her doorframe while Mary and Kyra stood still on her front porch.

Five years ago, David and Tatiana—or rather Adamast Cross and Princess Undercut—had gotten along very well, but had never truly befriended one another directly. It was more like they had shared in the same circle, the same family, without needing to take it any further.

Yet, that did nothing to quell the hurt either of them felt from yesterday morning. Princess Undercut had saved Adamast’s life, causing her to leave behind people she cared for, and Adamast exploded verbally in her face and wrestled free of her after they teleported. Adamast used her super reflexes to hit her ally faster than Princess Undercut could react, and then stormed off. Things were calmer now, but the silence now was equally harsh.

Mary and Kyra each searched for what to say, but they had no more luck now than they had on the way to Tatiana’s and Wyatt’s home. Mary said the most, if it could be counted as speech at all that she choked out a few incoherent sounds.

After moments passed, Tatiana rolled her eyes and said, “Please just come inside. This is getting ridiculous.”

“Yeah,” started Mary, “you might be right about that.”

Maryann shifted the bag she carried with a few of her belongings, and followed Tatiana into her home with Kyra trailing behind her.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay and chat, but I have to go to work,” said Tatiana. “Wyatt’s here, so watch out for his bad jokes.”

“They’re not that bad,” exclaimed Wyatt from the other room.

“But, make yourselves comfortable until I get back late tonight. We’ll talk then. You don’t mind waiting, do you?”

“Not really,” said Mary. “By the way, what’s with the band-aid?”

Wyatt poked his head from around a corner and said, “Have a good day at work, hon. Mary, Kyra... hi. I was getting ready to watch a movie if you want to join me.”

The girls all nodded. Then Mary turned back to Tatiana and repeated, “So, what’s with the band-aid?”

Tatiana only laughed and nabbed the keys from the hook she kept them on. She made for the garage with one last “Later, Mary! Keep her out of trouble, Kyra.”

Mary and Kyra shrugged to one another, then walked toward the living room where their remaining host was sitting.

“So, movie night, huh?” asked Mary.

Wyatt said, “We usually do something fun, eat a quick dinner, and flip a coin on what to do next. Sex or crime fighting.”

“That sounds like a good use of Saturday.”

“You two should try it sometime.”

Kyra coughed. She wasn’t ready for that one. Considering what had happened the last time she and David had anything resembling sex, she doubted anyone could blame her hesitation either.

“Go ahead, take a seat somewhere!” Wyatt suggested. He quickly hummed and switched over from the couch to the chair. “Probably better this way with your touch thing you have going on.”

Mary accepted graciously, as did Kyra. Their things now sat at the corner of the sofa.

“How’s your job, by the way?” asked Mary. “You were still at the start of your career the last time I asked about it.”

“I think I was just finishing my sixth month in the hospital wing's main staff, yeah,” agreed Wyatt.

“He’s a doctor when he isn’t saving lives,” Mary said to Kyra.

“A pediatrician, mainly. I can’t tell you how fun it is to deal with parents who think their kids are freaks due to superpowers, gender dysphoria, or what have you. Or how hard it is to look at children with any number of diseases that will probably kill them within the year. Either way, I conceal my empathic masteries and minor healing abilities all the while using my charm to help those kids.”

Kyra said, “That’s commendable.”

“Lately, I’ve been at Founder’s because the clinic in Talos is still under reconstruction. It will be for a few more days. I will sometimes wander into other wings of the hospital to see if I can slip in my talents elsewhere, but, at Founder’s, there’s a man who's been seen by so many psychics, every one of them coming to the same conclusion. Part of me wants to go meet this man, but I can do nothing about it without giving myself away, or taking away from everything else I do.”

“Like watching movies on a Saturday night,” said Mary.

“Like spending quality time with my wife. Tonight’s the odd one out. What have you got planned?”

“Actually, the plan was to tell you and Tatiana that the base is currently closed off, and then we were going to look for a place to stay for a while. Maybe beat up a bad guy or two along the way.”

“Sounds productive, too productive. I can’t speak for my wife, even if I wanted to read her thoughts, but we have a spare room you both can use for the time being. Now, about that movie... Why don’t you look through our collection and choose what we’ll watch, and I’ll go grab something from the kitchen. Want anything: juice, water, beer?”

“I’ll take a beer,” said Kyra.

“How old are you again?”

“I’m twenty.”

“Twenty’s a little young, don’t you think?”

“I used to sneak a bottle or two each week I was with Nightmare’s Militia.”

“Right. Juice for you. Mary, anything?”

The ending credits of the third movie in a Western trilogy had been playing in the living room when Tatiana entered the house through the garage. It was a long shift at work, during which the main highlight was her . . . very interesting . . . conversation with a blond woman with rose petals in her hair.

”You don’t even need that band-aid.”

“No, I was keeping up appearances. Thank you.”

Among other things, Tatiana had given the woman an address to a clubhouse that threw the best parties, and then, when their little chat was over, she sighed and removed the band-aid.

She stepped into the living room, and was immediately greeted by three people. Their faces were in an elated stupor that could only come from a marathon of movies that lasted close to seven hours. Sure enough, DVD cases sat on the coffee table for the whole trilogy that had just wrapped up before Tatiana got in the door.

“Hey! The pizzas are running a few minutes late, hon,” said Wyatt. “How was your day?”

“It was one of those days where I don’t even know yet. I’ll let you know later after I've finally told myself.” She walked around and tapped on Mary’s leg. “Move over? Thank you. Now, about that talk.” Tatiana tilted her tired head at her friend sitting next to her. “Don’t even worry about it.”

“But I said things,” said Mary. “Harsh things. I even hit you. I still feel the need to say I’m sorry.”

“You were hurt, I get that. Just promise me you won’t do that again, and we’ll be cool. I am sorry you lost your friends, you know, but we’re still here for you. You don't have to grieve on your own like some dumb bitch.”

“How can you forgive me at the drop of the hat like that?”

“I don’t. But, I’m tired as fuck right now, and we’re basically sisters. If you explode in my face again I’ll kick your ass, but still, I can totally understand if you need time to cope with something, or if you need help, or whatever really.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Mary stated.

“What about me?” asked Kyra.

Tatiana said, “We’ve barely met, sweety, but you’re cool too. Damn it, where’s that pizza? I’m really hungry.”

Wyatt said, “I think that’s the delivery guy coming up the driveway now. Let me go check.”

“So, do you two have somewhere to stay tonight?”

“Uh, no, Mary and I were looking for a place, but we have no idea where to go.”

“Take our spare room. Please. This house is way too quiet for the two of us.”

“Serious? Thank you.”

“It was nice of them to let us use that bed,” said Kyra, walking in from having brushed her teeth in the restroom.

“Yes, it was,” Mary said. She was reading through the magazine that Warren had lent them.

“Anything interesting in there?”

“Well, sure, if you were a scientist or magic user. Or both. But, the article he wanted us to look at; this is an interesting read. It talks about splitting the soul into an object or another person, and the many dangers that come with it.”

“If only there was a novel series for kids that warned about such a thing.”

Mary huffed a laugh as Kyra joined her on top of the bed that had been covered with a minimal number of sheets. Luckily the weather was warm enough that neither woman needed a comforter or other extra layers.

“It says that the body was meant to house the entire soul,” said Mary. “Tearing at it is painful all on its own. The further the object used is from the main body, the more quickly the body becomes exhausted. Reuniting the pieces of the soul is equally painful.”

Kyra said, “Note to self, no stabbing myself in the chest with a ritual knife.”

“The article stresses the dangers and argues against anyone wishing to try it for self-preservation. However, if you wake up after a long night of partying with half of your soul trapped inside of something, then there’s a ritual for putting it back together. However, it means breaking the object correctly when the time comes, or else you’re pretty much screwed in becoming whole ever again.”

“Imagine some female mage with half of herself inside of a dildo.”

Finally, Mary moved her eyes from the magazine toward Kyra.

“Narcissism at its erotic limits. Let’s just hope the fragment of the soul is inside the actual toy, and not the batteries. That might make things very difficult.”

“Kyra . . . .”

“What? I know, you’re saying that Warren’s magazine is telling us we’re practically soul mates, and we need to stay together. And you know what?”

“What?”

“I’m perfectly alright with that.” Kyra kissed Mary.

The energy between them shifted. Not in a sexual way, but definitely in a “Holy chemical lab explosion, Captain Patriot!” sort of way. It felt so different from the times they had kissed when they dated as David and Kyra, and both of them liked it.

“I think I like it too,” said Mary. She kissed back. She wanted so much more than this. But, not tonight. Tonight, simply being with Kyra was more than enough.